Coinbase to D.C. Airwaves, SEC Goes Scorched Earth, ETH Staking Up

These are the stories that shape Web3.

Top Stories

• ETH: The number of ETH staked has surged by 4.4 million since the Shanghai upgrade. Ether owners continue to establish themselves as network validators, enticed by an annual yield of around 4-5 percent through token staking (CD).

• Coinbase: The crypto exchange, in a long-running dispute with U.S. regulators, is taking its public outreach to airwaves in the nation’s capital, running a new TV ad this week to confront what it says is a “naive view” of digital assets (TB).

• SEC: The Securities and Exchange Commission recently classified 37 cryptocurrencies as securities. The list includes XRP, FIL, ALGO, TRX and others (BIC).

Web3 Games

• STEPN: Move-to-earn game STEPN’s iPhone app now lets you buy NFTs using Apple Pay. However, prices are much higher because of Apple’s fees (DC). 

• Openfort: Web3 startup, Openfort raises $3 Million for ‘frictionless’ Web3 gaming wallet (DC).

• Battle For Giostone: The Plutus Collection mint is now live which includes 1,000 Genesis Heroes (TW). 

NFTs

• Bitcoin NFTs: According to data platform CryptoSlam, NFTs on Bitcoin have grossed about $167 million in the past thirty days, taking second place to Ethereum (CD).

• Upstream: Web3 infrastructure company Upstream is set to release My First DAO which will use a “learn and earn” model, meaning that it will reward students for participating in the program. To enroll, students must mint a “DAOphin,” a dolphin-themed NFT (CD).

• Pudgy Penguins: The NFT project turned IP brand sold over $500,000 worth of physical toys on its Amazon storefront in the days following their launch, according to CEO Luca Netz in a Twitter Spaces (BW).

Into the Metaverse

• Story Protocol. a16z led a a $29.3 million seed round in Story Protocol which develops technology designed to revolutionize how narrative universes are created (NFG).

• Meta: The social media giant announces AI Model chip as part of it’s Metaverse efforts (TMI).

• Space Force: Space Launch Delta 45 will use metaverse technology to help plan future operations in the face of growing launch activity at Cape Canaveral (SN).

DeFi World

• Aave: Popular DeFi protocol Aave V2 users were temporarily unable to access $120M on Polygon after a governance bug. All funds remain safe (CD).

• Mangrove: Wintermute backed DEX, Mangrove launches on Polygon testnet, plans to go live on Mainnet in June (CD)

• Lido: Liquid staking protocol Lido Finance is thinking about LDO staking and a potential buyback (DC).